Gaultheria procumbens
A shrub that taxes anything that touches it and taunts late, playing either role — a plain native body or an invasive attacker that buffs and saps.
Checkerberry is a Shrub that buffs its own attack and saps its target, with Extrafloral Nectaries taxing anything that strikes it and a late Sapromyophily taunt to draw fire off an ally. It is native to Eastern North America and invasive across Europe, so the arena can cast it either way - as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a plain, middling card whose steady, even tempo makes it predictable but unremarkable.
Its starter attack, Tick Tumble, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun for about 30 damage native / 30 invasive - a plain hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Shrubland Sere, arrives at level 25: Settles the slope: heal 35%, and the foe withers. It raises the plant's own attack. The advanced attack, Bramble Scramble, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (40 native / 42 invasive) and saps the target, weakening it as it deals damage. Most of your checkerberries sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Checkerberry holds two working traits, and both arrive on schedule. Extrafloral Nectaries switches on at level 10: strike the plant and you take 3% of your own max HP back, straight through DEF and any overshield. Sapromyophily arrives at level 68 and makes this low creeping mat the one the engine reaches for whenever it must single out a victim from a group — Seed Rain, a forced swap, a drifting spore. See Abilities.
Checkerberry carries no special trait keywords, so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. It is non-toxic, with no hazard ring. As a native, defensive field gear suits a supporting role; as an invasive, offensive gear leans into its attack-buff plan, since it has no trait to build around.
At level 40 checkerberry reads 121 HP as a native and 106 as an invasive, with ATK of 25 native versus 26 invasive - a modest invasive edge. DEF is 10, mid-range for the shrub band. Its tempo is even: turn 1 runs on its initiative (19) and every turn after on its SPD (19), which sit at the same value, so it is neither a fast opener nor a fast cruiser. Retreat costs 13 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, checkerberry reaches 233 HP native / 203 invasive and 45 / 48 ATK, and its DEF climbs to 20 - a shrub gains a moderate amount of armor, enough to blunt weaker hitters but short of a tree's wall. Retreat rises to 25 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature checkerberry acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys bulk and a little armor; with no trait, that is all.
As a shrub, checkerberry sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from them, while Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) strike it for x1.5 and resist its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the trade is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play checkerberry on the strength of its moves. As an invasive, buff its attack and then sap and grind a target down; as a native it is a plain body that supports a stronger hitter. It is only average overall, so treat it as a filler that trades evenly — though everything that hits it pays for the privilege. It is inedible, so feeding it any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It plays at an even tempo throughout and leans on its bulk as it grows, crossing over around level 2; higher levels only raise its stats, so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plant’s tempo (SPD + INI, the turn-order edge) fades as it grows, while its power (HP + ATK + DEF, net of the rising Sun cost to retreat) climbs. The crossover is the level where power overtakes tempo: below it the plant is a fast skirmisher, above it a heavyweight. Shown for each stance this plant can actually hold — native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither — with the card at its crossover and fully grown at Lv 100.